Join Xfinity Live and the National Constitution Center on Wednesday, December 5th as they toast to the End of Prohibition at the 1933-themed Repeal Day Celebration at XFINITY Live! Philadelphia!! Raise a glass of Batch 19 Pre-Prohibition Style Lager while enjoying live, jazz music! Come dressed in your best period attire and snap a photo with black & white models from the era! Both General Admission and VIP Tickets are available for the event. For more information and to get your tickets today, visit: http://www.xfinitylive.com/repealday

During this period, support for Prohibition diminished among voters and politicians. John D. Rockefeller Jr., a lifelong nondrinker who had contributed much money to the Prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League, eventually announced his support for repeal because of the widespread problems he believed Prohibition had caused. Influential leaders, such as the du Pont brothers, led the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, whose name clearly asserted its intentions.

The repeal movement also attracted a substantial portion of women, defying the assumption that recently-enfranchised female voters would automatically vote as a bloc on this issue.[8] They became pivotal in the effort to repeal, as many “had come to the painful conclusion that the destructiveness of alcohol was now embodied in Prohibition itself.”[9] By then, women had become even more politically powerful due to ratification of the Constitutional amendment for women’s suffrage. Activist Pauline Sabin argued that repeal would protect families from the corruption, violent crime, and underground drinking that resulted from Prohibition. On May 28, 1929, Sabin founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR), which attracted many former Prohibitionists to its ranks.[10]

Its membership was estimated at 1.5 million by the time repeal was finally passed in 1933. Originally, Sabin was among the many women who supported the 18th Amendment. Now, however, she viewed Prohibition as both hypocritical and dangerous. She recognized “the apparent decline of temperate drinking” and feared the rise of organized crime that developed around bootlegging.[11]

Additionally, she worried that America’s children, witnessing a blatant disregard for dry laws, would cease to recognize the sanctity of the law itself. Finally, Sabin and the WONPR took a libertarian stance that disapproved of federal involvement in a personal matter like drinking. Over time, however, the WONPR modified its argument, playing up the “moral wrongs that threatened the American home” as a result of the corruption of the Prohibition era.[4] As a women’sorganization during the early 20th century, adopting a political stance that centered around maternalism and home protection appealed to the widest audience and was favored over personal liberty arguments, which ultimately received little attention.

The WONPR was initially composed mainly of upper-class women. However, by the time the 21st Amendment was passed, their membership included the middle and working classes. After a short start-up period, donations from members alone were enough to financially sustain the organization. By 1931, more women belonged to the WONPR than the WCTU; by 1932, the WONPR had branches in forty-one states.[12]

The WONPR supported repeal on a platform of “true” temperance, claiming that “a trend toward moderation and restraint in the use of intoxicating beverages [was] reversed by prohibition.”[13] Though their causes were in direct opposition, the WONPR mirrored the advocacy techniques of the WCTU. They canvassed door-to-door, encouraged politicians on all levels to incorporate repeal into their party platform, created petitions, gave speeches and radio interviews, dispersed persuasive literature, and held chapter meetings. At times, the WONPR also worked in cooperation with other anti-prohibition groups. In 1932, the AAPA, Voluntary Committee of Lawyers, The Crusaders, theAmerican Hotel Organization, and the WONPR formed the United Repeal Council. The United Repeal Council lobbied at both the 1932 Republican and Democratic conventions to integrate repeal into their respective presidential election campaigns. Ultimately, the Republicans continued to defend Prohibition. So the WONPR, which initially began as a nonpartisan organization, joined with the Democratic campaign and supported FDR.[14]

The number of repeal organizations and demand for repeal both increased.

Amazing old time Photo of the U.S. Naval Hospital formerly located on Pattison Ave. between Broad & 20th Streets in packer Park, South Philadelphia.

ThePhiladelphia Naval Hospital was the first high-rise hospital building constructed by the United States Navy. At its 1935 opening it represented a state-of-the-art facility for the Navy with 650 beds and a total floor space of 352,000 square feet (32,700 m2). The dedicated medical purpose of this facility contributed to the World War II mission as the center for amputation, orthopedic and prosthetic services for Navy, Marine, and Coast Guardveterans residing east of the Rocky Mountains.

The complex was developed as a tree-lined campus of 56 buildings and structures with the main high-rise building placed at the center and augmented with amenities of a Navy Base Exchange (BX) and gas station. The central building was flanked by lower buildings in a classical Beaux-Arts arrangement. It was a striking 15-story Art Deco steel-framed tower, faced with yellow brick and brown terra cotta and described in a survey of Philadelphia architecture as “one of the finest Art Deco buildings in the city.”[citation needed] The height was a significant departure from the two- or three-story naval hospital complexes that preceded it. Detailing the building’s interior included such significant features as anodized aluminum heater gratesdepicting a ship in full sail. The grates were set in marble panels in the vestibule and below were air intakes in the shape of dolphins.

By the late 1970s declining use of the facility and studies that determined the building incapable of being renovated for modern medical use signaled the end of the hospital’s role as major medical facility for the Navy. In 1988, under the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1988 (BRAC), the Philadelphia Naval Hospital was slated for closure and disposal. All functions were relocated from the complex in 1993, and since that date the buildings were vacant and overseen by a small security and maintenance staff. The city of Philadelphia was approved to purchase it for re-use. It was finally demolished on June 9, 2001 at 7:02 A.M.

We are excited to announce that we have only one home left of the original ten, Geary Estates new construction homes in the coveted Packer Park neighborhood of South Philadelphia. These home are the 1st new construction homes in Packer Park in over 20+ years and they are one of a kind.Speak now or forever hold your peace!! These 3000sq’ beauties have it all, Roof decks, 10-year tax abatements, driveway parking, rear yards, granite kitchens with stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors n every room, finished basements and much much more- all Standard!! no upgrades needed!! Extremely High End construction at a reasonable price, $500,000 to $529,900. Visit www.PackerParkLiving.com for floor plans, specs and details.

We have been saying it for 3 years now…. it is THE perfect time to buy a packer Park home and it will not always be this easy!!!

The Perfect Storm for Buyers;

1. Rates are so low, you can borrow $220,000 for $988.oo/Month. Real estate taxes in packer park average $2880 annually, that’s $239/month +/- $988 for your mortgage payment + $239/month for your taxes = $1,227 a month. you can barely rent for that amount!!!

2. Inventory is higher than ever before. Remember when we struggled to find a home in Packer Park? inventory has doubled in the area due to the construction of projects like the Reserve, Geary Estates and others… Add the overall economic uncertainty to the equation and the 10+ months of Home Inventory available city-wide and you get a Buyers Market.

3. prices have bottomed. If you’re trying to time the Market, stop it… After several years of declining prices it is evident that prices have stabilized. Economic Indexes that track national Home prices are proof of this stabilization. Now is the time to buy.